Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run novel Chapter 71

Clara was too weak to fight back, with blood trickling steadily from her forehead. The man had ripped open her blouse and was about to go further when he was suddenly launched backward by a powerful kick. He crashed into a sharp corner, immediately spitting out blood.

Outside the closed men's restroom door, Richard, dressed in all black, stood guard. He lighted up a cigarette, telling anyone who approached, "You'll need to go somewhere else. We've got some private business going on here." With his intimidating aura and narrowed eyes, Richard wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. Once people recognized him, they quickly grabbed their friends and left.

Taking a drag from his cigarette, Richard leaned against the wall and called inside, "Take it easy. Your leg's still on the mend."

Inside, Dylan was crouched beside Clara, gently touching her forehead. The guy he'd kicked lay unconscious, eyes rolled back.

The pounding was unbearable in her head. Clara instinctively sought comfort in the warmth of Dylan's hand. "Can you stand?" he asked.

Clara wasbarely conscious and and didn’t know who had saved her, but she found the scent around her soothing, like a fresh mountain breeze.

As someone lifted her, she heard another man's voice say, "If people find out your leg's on the mend, do you know how many more assassination attempts you'll face?"

Clara's head rested against a warm, solid chest. In her last moments of awareness, she realized her head was bleeding and instinctively tried to pull away so she wouldn’t dirty his clothes. A gentle hand held her steady, and a voice, cold yet kind, reassured her, "It's okay, lean on me."

She let herself drift into unconsciousness, unaware of what was happening around her.